Achaval Ferrer Quimera 2020 (750ml)
Product price
Description
Achaval Ferrer's Quimera is a Bordeaux blend from Mendoza built on a Malbec foundation (48%), anchored by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and a touch of Petit Verdot sourced from multiple zones across the region. The 2020 vintage spent just over a year in French oak, with a measured hand on new wood to let the five varieties integrate before bottling.
The wine opens with dark fruit aromas layered with spice, chocolate, mint, and violets. On the palate, it's plush and well-structured, ripe black berries and cherry mixing with darker notes of cocoa, cranberry, and pencil shavings. The tannins are fine and supple rather than aggressive, and there's enough freshness threading through to keep the richness honest. The 2020 shows the riper character of its vintage, with a soft, voluptuous quality that suggests it will grow more refined with age.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Color | Red |
| Country | Argentina |
| Region | Mendoza |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend Red |
| Producer | Achaval Ferrer |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Size | 750 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
A confident blend of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a splash of Petit Verdot, aged in new and used French oak for just over a year. Plush black fruit aromas woven with spice, chocolate, mint and violets. Rich, but well-balanced palate, with fine tannins and balancing freshness. Layers of black berries, cherry, cranberry, dark chocolate, spice and pencil shavings, with a lingering finish.
Quimera was the only Malbec from the winery that wasn't 100% pure, and it now turns into a range of blends, including the original Quimera. I tasted the 2020 Quimera, when they reduced the new oak to around 60% (in 2020 there'll be around 40% only, and they also bought larger foudres) to keep the blend of varieties done before putting it in barrel, where it matured for 13 months. This is 48% Malbec, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot from many zones of Mendoza, Medrano, Lujan de Cuyo, Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos. It's dark, ripe and juicy, with 14.8% alcohol, soft and voluptuous, with the varieties nicely integrated and the oak in the background. Tasted next to the 2019s, it shows how the vintage is ripe and the tannins are not as fine-boned. This is slightly riper and more rustic, but it should get more polished with some time in bottle. 50,436 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021.
The 2020 Achaval Ferrer Quimera is a blend of 48% Malbec, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot from the Uco Valley and Luján de Cuyo. A complex, Bordeaux-style blend, it's dark garnet red in the glass. The ripe nose delivers balsamic notes, hints of herbs and fruity aromas ranging from plum to mulberry over a rich layer of tapenade due to the warm year. Indulgent in the mouth, the finely grained, rounded tannins sculpt a voluminous palate, with a liqueur-like kick. A flavorful red.